Thriller, 25 years later

1. cover story
Thriller
25 Years
Later
Story by Terry Shropshire
Images by Hiltron Bailey for Steed Media Service
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The story you’re about to read is true. You may
want to sit down for this. This writer was standing outside the Los Angeles
Hilton when two middle-aged white women from rural Texas, clamoring
like nervous teenage groupies, asked me a very peculiar question. They
wanted to know if they could take a picture with me.
younger than the ages indicated by their birth certificates.
“Why?” I asked, rather perplexed. But the media and circling onlookers couldn’t have
They wanted to show their kids the man cared less. It’s as if the snapshot of the Michael Jackson
who took Michael Jackson’s picture. from his Thriller days is encased in their subconscious,
“My 24-year-old will get a kick out of and they refuse to let it go. It didn’t take long for the
this,” shouted the more rotund of the order to quickly dissolve into pandemonium. Reporters
two, her voice coated in a Southern and photographers were machine-gunning questions
accent as thick as beef stew. “They into Michael’s face. Camera crews were elbowing and
think he’s cool,” said the taller one, jockeying like they were clearing out for a rebound.
who was sporting a beehive hairdo and Toward the end, after Michael led the birthday rendition
was buzzing about with nervous energy. for Rev. Jackson, the red carpet became a swirling mob
What manner of man is able to elicit such of humanity toward the door to the auditorium.
excitement from this woman’s kid who Michael Jackson was flanked by black music royalty:
wasn’t even born when Thriller hijacked Berry Gordy, the Motown music mogul who was already
popular culture, revolutionized MTV and spearheading a mammoth, history-making empire when
altered music making forever? he reluctantly signed Michael and the Jackson 5 to the
Yet a similar scene unfolded in label in 1969. To Michael’s right was the equally beloved
Beverly Hills less than 24 hours earlier. Don Cornelius, whose booming bass baritone fueled the
Actually it was worse, because it involved seminal “Soul Train” weekly dance program. Talk show
reporters who are ostensibly accustomed titan Larry King also strode down the carpet with them.
to covering celebrities. Jackson was the Jackson did not utter so much as a vowel during his
star guest of another famous Jackson, time at Rev. Jackson’s party. But the star power flew off
Reverend Jesse Jackson, who celebrated Jackson like sparks, providing indisputable confirmation
his 66th birthday at the Beverly Hilton that the residuals of that unforgettable era still resonate
on trendy Wilshire Boulevard. A with his fans.
pregnant silence of excitement choked began in December 1982. And he certainly looked Gordy, 78, long ago predicted Jackson’s phenomenal
off all conversation on the red carpet when it was finally nothing whatsoever like the Afro-headed kid who, at 14 success. But even this musical prophet could not have
announced that the reclusive, eccentric legend was en years old, told his family that he would one day produce fathomed just how big that 10-year-old kid from Gary,
route. For most on the overflowing red carpet, it would be the biggest album the world had ever seen. Rev. Jackson Ind., would become. “I just love him,” Gordy said, before
the first close-up visual of the man whose Thriller album gently took his hand and escorted a hesitant Michael, recalling the 25th anniversary of the Emmy-winning and
sold more than 100 million copies worldwide (including who nervously peered over at the awaiting media frenzy. ratings blockbuster, “Motown 25” that helped Jackson
54 million in the U.S. alone), according to the Guiness The man who has sold more of one album than most moonwalk into intergalactic and uncharted realms. “I
Book of World Records, and spawned seven Top Ten do in an entire career, looked frail, almost brittle, as he remember everything about that night. It was wonderful,
hits, two No. 1 songs (“Beat It” and “Billie Jean”), and traipsed along the red carpet. His skin was bright like a wonderful, wonderful. It was one of the greatest
won a record eight Grammy Awards. It is an arresting lantern, as if it could glow in the dark. Michael surveyed performances I’ve ever seen.”
sight to view the current incarnation of Michael Jackson. the mushrooming madness from behind large, black And that’s the point. Today marks the silver anniversary
Michael Joseph Jackson Sr., 49, scarcely resembled shades that were perched precariously on the ski slope of of the time when it seemed that Michael Jackson could
the 24-year-old architect of the music revolution that a finely sculpted nose. His reconstructed ivory face was actually change the weather. Michael-mania was so
22 december 06, 2007/www.rollingout.com